A Snapshot of Virginia on the Brink: The "Alexandria Gazette," January 19, 1861

The other day while researching for a future post on contraband camps in Northern Virginia, I came across a copy of the January 19, 1861 edition of the Alexandria Gazette. I soon realized the historic value of this particular paper. The articles and classifieds on page three paint a fascinating picture of Virginia on the precipice of the Civil War. The Commonwealth had not yet left the Union, but events were unfolding that would set Virginia on the tragic road to secession. Meanwhile, an innkeeper from Fairfax had just opened a business in Alexandria that would soon become a scene of wartime violence and martyrdom.

In mid-January 1861, the General Assembly of Virginia called for a state convention to consider the question of secession. By the time the Gazette was published on January 19, the campaign to elect delegates was in full swing. The paper published several items related to candidates in Northern Virginia:

The election for delegates was held on February 4, 1861. (See my previous post here.) Moss, a supporter of secession, lost to moderate Unionist William Dulany. George W. Brent, a strong pro-Union candidate from Alexandria County, won his election to the Convention. Janney and Carter, both Unionist candidates, took Loudoun's two seats. Janney would go on to become the President of the Convention. On April 17 the Convention voted to leave the Union, although Brent, Carter, Dulany, and Janney joined the minority against the Ordinance of Secession. Both Dulany and Brent, who placed loyalty to Virginia first and foremost despite their votes in the Convention, served as Confederate officers.

The January 19 edition of the Gazette also reported on a new innkeeper in town:

James Jackson, apparently eager to spread the word about his business, also placed a glowing advertisement in the same paper:

Only a few short months later, the Marshall House would make headlines across the county. On May 23, Virginia voters ratified the Ordinance of Secession by overwhelming numbers. In a public display of his allegiance to the secessionist cause, Jackson hoisted the stars and bars above the Marshall House. As Federal troops moved to occupy Alexandria on May 24, Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves rushed to the roof of the Marshall House and ripped down the Confederate flag flying there. Jackson confronted Ellsworth in the stairwell and shot him dead. Cpl. Francis Brownell of the Fire Zouaves then killed Jackson with a musket blast. In the aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of Lincoln became a martyr for the Union cause. Confederates in Virginia and elsewhere exalted Jackson as a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Southern independence. Almost immediately, souvenir hunters began to carry away pieces of the Marshall House. Jackson's new business venture, announced with great fanfare in the Gazette, had become just another casualty of war. 

Engraving of the Marshall House from Harper's Weekly, June 8, 1861 (courtesy of House Divided). The site is today occupied by the Hotel Monaco.

This one page in the Gazette speaks volumes about the interconnectedness of history. The fate of Jackson and the Marshall House were related to the Virginia Convention in ways that no one could have imagined on January 19, 1861. The Unionist candidates from Northern Virginia still hoped that secession could be averted. Jackson supported a break with the Union, but he also had a business to run and money to make. The Convention unleashed forces beyond the Unionist delegates' control. Secession and war soon followed. Jackson, a local innkeeper only months before, met his demise confronting Union troops and came to symbolize the Confederate cause in the early days of the conflict. On January 19, no one knew what the future would hold. Yet the story was all right there, on page three, waiting to happen.

Sources

Martha M. Boltz, "Jackson and Ellsworth: Death on both sides in the Civil War," Washington Times, May 18, 2011; Library of Virginia, Virginia Memory: Union or Secession (on-line resource); University of Richmond, Virginia Secession Convention (on-line resource).

The Confederates Evacuate Alexandria for the Second and Final Time

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the Union occupation of Alexandria, Virginia. (Yes, yet another event to commemorate as part of the Sesquicentennial. . . .)  Probably the best-known story of the invasion is the murder of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth, who was shot taking down a Confederate flag flying atop the Marshall House.  Ellsworth's death is a pretty familiar topic by now, so rather than go over old ground, I'd like to shed light on another aspect of the Union takeover on May 24, 1861.

As I discussed in a couple of recent posts, Virginia volunteers evacuated Alexandria at the start of May 1861.  (See here and here.)  Readers may recall that Lt. Col. Algernon Taylor lost his job for abandoning the city in disobedience of an order from Brig. Gen. Philip St. George Cocke.  Algernon was replaced by Col. George H. Terrett, a former Marine, who was commander when Virginia voters approved the Ordinance of Secession on May 23.  He would soon have the unenviable task of ordering a retreat that would leave Alexandria in Union hands for the duration of the war. 

Early on the morning of May 24, 1861, three main columns of Federal troops moved quickly to occupy Virginia.  Two of the columns crossed the Potomac at the Aqueduct and Long Bridges.  The 11th New York Fire Zouaves, under Col. Ellsworth, boarded steamers and disembarked at the wharves in Alexandria.  The U.S.S. Pawnee covered the regiment from the river.  After crossing the Potomac at Long Bridge, the First Michigan, under Col. Orlando B. Wilcox, marched down Washington Street towards Alexandria.

Terrett had already put his troops on high alert earlier that morning after learning that a squadron of Union cavalry had entered Virginia across the Chain Bridge.  Around 4:30 a.m., a U.S. Navy officer went ashore from the Pawnee and met with Col. Terrett under a flag of truce.  According to Terrett, the officer "informed me that an overwhelming force was about entering the city of Alexandria, and it would be madness to resist, and that I could have until 9 a. m. to evacuate or surrender."  Terrett wasted no time in organizing an evacuation.  Surrender was not an option.

Civil War-era photograph of the Lyceum at 201 S. Washington Street (courtesy of Historic Alexandria).

The Lyceum in Old Town today.

The Virginia troops, including units that would soon form the 17th Virginia Infantry, proceeded to the Lyceum on Washington Street.  From there, Terrett marched them down Duke Street and away from Wilcox's advancing soldiers.  The Old Dominion Rifles narrowly escaped capture, but in the end, managed to join up with the main body of troops.  The retreat was covered by two cavalry units -- Captain Edward Powell's Fairfax Cavalry and Captain Mottrom Dulany Ball's Chesterfield Troop.

Terrett reported that his Virginians "five hundred in number, retreated in good order."  The Union troops were hard on the tail of Terrett's force, whose rear guard was "in sight of and within two hundred yards of the advance guard of the enemy."  Given the apparent aggressiveness of the pursuit, one wonders how sincere of a choice Terrett was given between surrender and evacuation. 

Ball accompanied Terrett and his men as far as Ball's quarters, "a little west of the railroad depot" on the Orange & Alexandria R.R.  The volunteers continued for a half-mile beyond the depot, where they boarded cars for Manassas.  Terrett asked the cavalry to follow in his rear, but for whatever reason, Ball's thirty-five men took too long, and were captured by the Federals.

As the train headed down the tracks, Terrett had his men burn the railroad bridges behind them. A contingent of Union troops "pursued [the Confederates] a short distance, also burning such bridges as they had spared." (Report of Maj. Gen. Samuel P. Heinzelman, July 20, 1863.) Around half past five, Col. Wilcox was able to report to Washington, "Alexandria is ours."

Terrett's force arrived safely in Manassas and joined other Confederate soldiers assembling in the vicinity.  Brig. Gen. Milledge Bonham, commander at Manassas, reported to Maj. Gen. Robert E. Lee on May 25:

The Alexandria (Va.) troops are here, without cooking utensils, and many without arms. Please send to the quartermaster of this place cooking utensils and other camp equipage for six hundred men, as destitute men are hourly joining me. Caps, ammunition, and arms greatly needed.

Lucky for Bonham, the Federal advance on Manassas was still a couple months away.

Note on sources
For a complete set of reports associated with the Union occupation of Alexandria, see the Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 37-44. Further information can be found in Alexandria in the Civil War by James G. Barber (1988) and 17th Virginia Infantry, from the Virginia Regimental History Series, by Lee A. Wallace, Jr. (1990).

The Volunteers Take Over Washnigton (Part 1)

Over the last few weeks, I have written about Virginia state forces in and around Alexandria during late April and early May 1861.  This week, I'd like to cross to the other side of the Potomac and describe some of the scenes in Washington City during the tension-filled spring of 1861.  Following the attack on Ft. Sumter, President Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion.  Many of the volunteers headed to the nation's capital.  However welcome a sight these defenders were, the U.S. Government was little prepared to accommodate the influx.  Many of Washington's famous government buildings soon became makeshift barracks for the new regiments.  By the end of April, some 11, 000 soldiers had descended on Washington and taken up residence across the city. 

The U.S. Capitol under construction, May 1861 (courtesy of Library of Congress)

The U.S. Capitol, whose dome was still under construction in 1861, served as temporary quarters for many raw recruits.  The 6th Massachusetts arrived in Washington not long after its violent and deadly confrontation with a mob in Baltimore on April 19.  The regiment, greeted by Lincoln upon arrival, marched through the streets and headed to the Capitol.  The 6th Massachusetts established "camp" in the Senate Chamber and the surrounding galleries and corridors.

Other regiments soon followed.  The 7th New York Militia, whose ranks were filled by members of New York City's upper crust, took over the House Chamber towards the end of April.  The regiment's colonel made himself at home in the Speaker's parlor, while staff officers occupied the committee rooms.  The Eighth Massachusetts arrived at the Capitol about the same time.  The volunteers from the Bay State settled down in the Capitol Rotunda. 

Soldiers of the 8th Massachusetts in the Rotunda, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

Soldiers drilled on the Capitol grounds and performed picket duty.  During down time, they wrote letters home and endured army food, although the well-bred 7th New York left Capitol Hill to dine in Washington's large hotels.  According to Margaret Leech's Reveille in Washington, "mock sessions of Congress were a favorite diversion":

The uproar started every  morning with the rattle of reveille. A self-appointed presiding officer rapped for order. The galleries shouted to the floor, and the floor bawled back.  There were pompous speeches and burlesque debates, greeted by howls of applause and hoots of derision. 

The 7th New York was gone by the start of May, but the famed 11th New York Fire Zouaves under Col. Elmer Ellsworth took the regiment's place. The firemen primarily occupied the old and new House chambers.  In a few short weeks, Ellsworth's regiment would march into Virginia, and Ellsworth would be gunned down by a secessionist innkeeper in Alexandria.  While in Washington, the Fire Zouaves gained a reputation for rough and tumble behavior.  On May 11, 1861, the New York Times commented:

Since their arrival in this city the Zouaves have been quartered in the Capitol, and scattered as they have necessarily been over different portions of the building, the opportunity for building up the discipline of the regiment has not been such as would have been offered by placing them in camp . . . .  Notwithstanding this unfavorable circumstance, the men are visibly improving in soldierly qualities, and within a very short time will be perfectly under control.

New York Fire Zouaves in the House of Representatives, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

The men had an opportunity to prove their mettle one early morning when they rushed from camp to put out a fire in a tailor's shop that nearly destroyed neighboring Willard's Hotel.  The Times noted:

The Messrs. WILLARD, and, indeed, all Washington, is loud in praise of the gallant fellows for their heroism and public spirit, and the fact of its exhibition will be to retrieve the character of the regiment from the disgrace cast upon by the excesses of the few rogues who have been turned out of its ranks. . . .

Not long after, the Fire Zouaves left the Capitol for a new encampment at the Insane Asylum in Washington.

Bread ovens in the basement of the Capitol, Harper's Weekly, May 25, 1861 (courtesy of sonofthesouth.net)

The army also transformed the basement of the Capitol into a bakery.  Around 150 bakers worked to produce loaves for the troops around Washington.  One estimate puts the output at an incredible 60,000 loaves a day.  The bread was loaded onto wagons and sent out for delivery to the various garrisons.

As the weeks passed, the regiments in the Capitol left and moved to duty elsewhere.  Surely many a solider must have found the experience of living in the Capitol a surreal experience. After all, these men had inhabited the very seat of the democracy and Union they were called to defend.

Note: This post is re-published from Wednesday, May 11, due to Blogger technical issues.  At least my whole blog didn't disappear--yet....

The Fairfax Rifles Head to Alexandria

Before the Civil War, volunteer militias were common throughout both the North and South. William Dulany, who later served as a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convention, organized the Fairfax Rifle Rangers in Fairfax Court House on December 1, 1859.  Many such companies of Virginia Militia were formed in the aftermath of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry in October of that year.  Dulany became captain of the Fairfax Rifles, which was assigned to the 60th Regiment (Fairfax County) of the Virginia Militia.  One of the earlier members of the Fairfax Rifles was James Jackson, who would achieve infamy across the North for gunning down Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York Fire Zouaves in May 1861.

Mobilization of military forces in Virginia gained momentum in the days following the adoption of the Ordinance of Secession. Towards the end of April 1861, the Fairfax Rifles headed to Alexandria, an important port city not far down the Potomac River from Washington. Led by Lieutenant William A. Barnes, the Fairfax Rifles arrived on April 25.  They took up quarters on Prince Street, not far from the intersection with Fairfax Street.

Alexandria buzzed with martial activity. Soldiers from various local units, as well as militia companies from other parts of Northern Virginia, were stationed around town.  The Fairfax Rifles joined Major Montgomery Corse's command, which by the end of April consisted of several state militia companies, including the Mount Vernon Guard, the Alexandria Riflemen, the Old Dominion Rifles, the Alexandria Artillery, the Emmett Guards, the Loudoun Guard, and the Warren Rifles.  On April 27, Corse's units officially became the 6th Battalion of Virginia Volunteers.  The battalion was assigned to the overall command of  Lt. Col. Algernon S. Taylor, who led the state troops in Alexandria.  Taylor was the nephew of President and Mexican War hero Zachary Taylor.

General Montgomery Corse, who in the spring of 1861 was a major leading the 6th Battalion of Virginia Volunteers at Alexandria (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Virginia militia leaders in Alexandria feared a possible Union invasion after adoption of the Ordinance of Secession.  They watched anxiously as the Union military presence in Washington grew.  The Fairfax Rifles, like other units, was assigned to guard the city streets and to keep an eye out for potential movements by Federal troops.  Life was not completely mundane.  The militia soldiers attracted the attention and admiration of the young women of Alexandria.  And at least one picket station was located in close proximity to a local brewery that kept beer on hand for the thirsty militiamen.

Later, in June 1861, Corse's battalion was organized into the 17th Regiment of Virginia Infantry. The Fairfax Rifles were designated as Company D, under Captain Dulany.  It is ironic that Dulany, who feared that secession would bring war to Fairfax's doorstep, was now actively playing a role in events that would ensure the very outcome he most feared.

Note on Sources

The following sources were useful in compiling this post:

Alexandria in the Civil War by James G. Barber (1988).

American Civil War Armies (5): Volunteer Militia by Philip Katcher & Ronald Volstad (1989).

"History of the Seventeenth Virginia Regiment, C.S.A," from the website of the Fairfax Rifles reenactment unit.

17th Virginia Infantry, from the Virginia Regimental History Series, by Lee A. Wallace, Jr. (1990).

Symbols of the "Lost Cause" in Alexandria

Alexandria, a charming town outside of Washington, DC, is known as much for its chic boutiques and fine restaurants as for its colonial past.  Just below the surface, however, lie reminders that this town was once inhabited by Confederate sympathizers who resented Union occupation during the Civil War and sought to commemorate the so-called "Lost Cause" in the years following Appomattox.  One of the most striking symbols of this past is the statue of a Rebel soldier located at the intersection of S. Washington and Prince Streets.  The Sons of Confederate Veterans led the effort to erect this memorial to Alexandria's Confederate dead.  Dedicated in 1889 by Governor Fitzhugh Lee, nephew of Robert E. Lee and a former major general of cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia, the statue defiantly faces away from the nation's capital.  An 1890 act of the Virginia House of  Delegates prohibited the statue from being moved to another location.

Confederate Statue on S. Washington Street, Old Town

But there are other, more hidden signs, that tourists and residents walk past every day without ever taking notice.  Before eating at Jackson 20 the other day, I paused to snap a picture of a marker affixed to the Hotel Monaco on King Street.  The hotel is located on the site of the Marshall House, where on May 24, 1861 Union Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth of the 11th New York "Fire Zouaves" was shot to death by innkeeper James Jackson after having torn down the Stars and Bars flying from the roof.  Jackson in turn was killed on the spot by one of Ellsworth's men.  In the immediate aftermath of Ellsworth's death, the young colonel and friend of Lincoln became a martyr for the Northern cause.  The South exalted Jackson as a defender of property rights in the face of Yankee aggression. 

The marker on the Hotel Monaco, placed by the Sons and Daughters of Confederate Veterans, salutes Jackson as "the first martyr to the cause of Southern independence."  (The date the marker was affixed is uncertain, although it has survived the change in ownership from Holiday Inn to Hotel Monaco.)  I shouldn't have been surprised to find this memorial, but I was.  Even an incident like the murder of Ellsworth survived the war to stir passions and drive Southerners to honor the alleged "heroics" of an innkeeper who used excessive and deadly force to deal with the removal of a simple flag.

Killing of Ellsworth and the Marshall House as depicted in an 1861 edition of Harper's Weekly

Marker commemorating the death of James Jackson at the corner of King and Pitt Streets

The problems with the Lost Cause mythology are numerous and are well documented in the literature of Civil War memory.  At the same time, the placement of such markers and monuments in the aftermath of the Civil War helped the United States to begin the process of reconciling, however ironic that may seem.  Within a reunited nation, Southerners were allowed to honor their "Lost Cause," veterans, and war dead.  The North would look the other way and erect its own monuments.  Unfortunately and tragically, the African American experience, and civil rights for freed slaves and their descendants, were neglected in a rush to "bind up the nation's wounds."  It would take over a hundred years to truly bind those wounds, and even then, they are sometimes still very close to the surface.

So, what to do with these markers and monuments?  After all, these tributes are part of history, and when properly explained and placed in context, they tell a powerful story of how previous generations of Americans remembered and dealt with civil conflict.  They also stand in some instances to honor war dead, even if the soldiers died for the wrong reasons.  Rather than remove such vestiges of a past that some would rather condemn and forget, these monuments and markers of the Lost Cause should be viewed critically next to sites that represent other aspects of the Civil War-era experience in Alexandria.  The Freedom House Museum, located in a former slave pen on Duke Street, features exhibits on slavery in Alexandria and beyond.  The City of Alexandria runs the Alexandria Black History Museum, and the Alexandria National Cemetery contains the graves of over 200 U.S. Colored Troops who gave their lives in service to the Union.  (See here, here, and here).  Fort Ward Museum, on the outskirts of Old Town, explains what life was like for Union soldiers stationed in one of the numerous forts in Northern Virginia guarding the area around Washington.  Alexandria can tell a story about all Americans affected by the Civil War.  All that we need to do is look, listen, and reflect.